Gas turbine engines (GTEs) produce power by extracting energy from a flow of hot gas produced by combustion of fuel in a stream of compressed air. In general, turbine engines have an upstream air compressor coupled to a downstream turbine with a combustion chamber (“combustor”) in between. Energy is released when a mixture of compressed air and fuel is burned in the combustor. The resulting hot gases are directed over blades of the turbine to spin the turbine and produce mechanical power.
Turbine blades and other components of GTEs are subject to high temperatures and high local stresses during operation. Due to rotation of a turbine rotor disk supporting the turbine blades, the turbine blades experience a centrifugal force, and therefore must be retained within the rotor disk. While a turbine blade root, for example a dovetail, can facilitate retention of the turbine blade, additional means to retain the turbine blade can be employed.
For example, retaining pins may be utilized for coupling turbine blades within the turbine rotor disk and preventing axial movement of the turbine blades relative to the turbine rotor disk. The retaining pins are staked in place to prevent dislodging of the pin during a turbine rotation. Generally, to perform staking of the retaining pins, a punch may be positioned above the retaining pins and held in place manually. Thereafter, a hammer may be used to strike the punch to stake the pin. However, as the punch is held in position manually, the punch may move away from the pin during staking and may hit and damage the turbine blade, which is undesirable.